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Scenes of loss – and resilience – at a Cal State campus facing drastic cuts

The Sonoma State University men’s soccer team practices in the rain recently on the campus in Rohnert Park. Division II sports are on the chopping block to save money.

Credit: Amy DiPierro / EdSource

On the soccer pitch, in the physics classroom and in the office of a trusted professor, students at Sonoma State University are confronting a demoralizing challenge: What happens if my program gets cut?

The Rohnert Park campus, 50 miles north of San Francisco, has announced a contentious proposal to close a $24 million budget deficit by nixing six academic departments entirely, eliminating about two dozen major degree programs and cutting all NCAA Division II sports, among other measures.

Sonoma State’s experience is the most dire example of the cost reductions at many of the 23 Cal State campuses, which in total serve more than 450,000 students around the state. The university system’s leaders say cuts are prompted by an anticipated decrease in state funding, rising costs and, on some campuses, slumping enrollment figures. The number of students at Sonoma State has plunged dramatically, from 9,400 students in 2015 to a nadir of about 5,800 in 2024.

On a recent visit to the campus, an EdSource reporter spent time with students, faculty and coaches directly impacted by the expected cuts. The most defiant promised to fight for reprieves or backed state legislators’ demands for a turnaround plan. This month, some students sued to try to block proposed cuts.

But mostly, students and faculty expressed worry that this could be the last time a Sonoma State undergraduate sees the advanced math explaining why light moves more slowly in air than in a vacuum, ponders the differences between second and third wave feminism or masters the subtle finesse of playing one-touch soccer in the rain.

Geology: ‘All of that will be gone’

Jackson Kaiser grew up at the foot of Mount Konocti in Lake County, part of a volcanic field three hours north of San Francisco that feeds what is reckoned to be the largest geothermal complex in the world. “I had a lot of questions that I didn’t know how to answer,” he said. And that’s why he majored in geology at Sonoma State University.

But the department that has turned Kaiser’s curiosity into a promising career may soon disappear. Kaiser could be among the last 40 or so Sonoma State geology majors, according to a professor in the department, if the university goes ahead with plans to eliminate the department. Sonoma State spokesperson Jeff Keating confirmed that all tenured and tenure-track geology faculty have received layoff notices, though several may be asked to teach temporarily.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Kaiser reverently held his favorite rock samples in the classroom where geology majors take most of their classes. “The idea that that place won’t be here to come back to, that I won’t have an alma mater — it feels like our administration doesn’t want me to be a proud Seawolf,” he said, referring to the campus mascot.

Student Jackson Kaiser, who grew up fascinated by a volcanic field near a large geothermal complex north of San Francisco, laments that he may be among the last geology majors at Sonoma State.
Amy DiPierro

Kaiser, 36, was working in the produce department of a Safeway grocery store when he found himself researching the chemical formulas of minerals. He marveled at their straight lines and geometric forms, so elegant they appear unnatural. He wanted to know more.

So around 2022, Kaiser, his partner and their two children, now 4 and 6, started commuting an hour and half or more every weekday from Lake County to Sonoma State, sending the kids to the Children’s School on campus while both parents took undergraduate classes. These days, Kaiser bunks with classmates from Monday to Friday, returning home to his family on weekends. “It’s not great,” he said. “But I’m working towards a better future, where I’ll have a real career and not just be working in a grocery store.”

His chosen career can have high stakes. After all, Kaiser said, it was a careful geological study in the 1960s that ultimately blocked a plan to build a nuclear power plant just 30 minutes from campus on a site traversed by the San Andreas Fault. A geological assessment is often a necessity for construction projects, especially in a region where debris flows can follow climate change-fueled wildfires. But geologists worry their numbers are waning despite growing demand for their skills.

A geology classroom on the campus of Sonoma State University on Feb. 12,
Amy DiPierro

Kaiser, who will graduate at the end of the summer, has been collecting business cards from potential employers like geologic consulting firms. Thanks to the department’s frequent field trips, he’s had opportunities to practice skills like mapping, sample collection and paleontology.

He’s also taken part in department traditions, like feasting on watermelon at the summit after mountainous hikes or visiting the mammoth fossil that Sonoma State students excavated in 1981. “I hate the thought,” he said, “that all of that will be gone.”

Soccer: ‘Play all the way through’

The weather was lousy, but there they were in the rain at 9:15 a.m., the Sonoma State University men’s soccer team, lacing up their boots and stowing their belongings in white garbage bags to keep them dry. They had come from nearby Santa Rosa and far away Kapolei, Hawaii, to attend the university. Together, they navigated the difficult reality that this could be their team’s last season, no matter how well they played.

There was Carson Sterling, a freshman center back from 18 miles north in Windsor, whose father and mother played soccer for Sonoma State before him. There was defender Cameron Fisk, a junior from Los Angeles studying business marketing, who had rebounded from injuries to play this fall. And, of course, there was head coach Marcus Ziemer, leading the Seawolves for the 34th year.

Ziemer watched the players warm up, his eyes shielded from the drizzle under a black baseball cap and glasses. Since he started as head coach in 1991, the men’s soccer team has won eight conference championships and earned its first and only national title in 2002.

But now things are grim. The university announced on Jan. 22 that it planned to eliminate men’s soccer along with the school’s other NCAA sports, among other austerities.

“It’s a very difficult kind of limbo right now,” he said. “We’re fighting hard to try and save the program and some of the other majors as well, trying to get them to reconsider.”

The Sonoma State University men’s soccer team practices recently in Rohnert Park. With the school’s whole Division II sports program potentially being cut, some team players are looking to transfer through the NCAA portal.
Amy DiPierro

Ziemer himself is in limbo, too. Unless efforts to save the Sonoma State Division II sports programs succeed, his contract will end on June 30. He would probably retire rather than seek another coaching job.

In the meantime, Ziemer and his four assistant coaches have advised players who wish to continue their collegiate soccer careers to enter the NCAA transfer portal, expressing interest in moving to other schools. A few already have offers.

“I’m just grateful that with everything going on, we have coaches like them that are willing to help us and see other opportunities,” said Fisk, who has entered the transfer portal while the Sonoma State team’s status is uncertain.

But for now, the team’s focus was on preparing the Seawolves for a challenging spring season, including matchups against NCAA Division I and semi-professional sides. Practice started with dynamic stretches, then a frenetic game of keep-away and a shooting drill to loosen quads grown stiff in the damp.

“The energy is still really high,” said Sterling, who is in talks with soccer programs at other schools. “Obviously, it’s a kind of bad situation, and we’re just hoping for the best. But we’re going to play all the way through no matter what, and we’re going to play hard for each other.”

The squad split into teams for a scrimmage, an assistant coach barking urgent encouragement as they played. He called a time-out. “What does it take? Communication. Thinking one pass, two passes, three passes ahead. Moving, adjusting, being aware,” he yelled, his voice booming over the slick turf. “So because we’re struggling, should we say, ‘Ehh, f— it, move on.’? Or should we grow through it? Let’s grow through it — let’s grow through it together!”

The Sonoma State University men’s soccer team practices in the rain recently in Rohnert Park.
Amy DiPierro

Women’s and gender studies: ‘I didn’t get that anywhere else’

Under the fluorescent lights of a windowless basement classroom, Xochilt Martinez Balladares and about 20 other students eagerly awaited a discussion on queer and trans theory. But before they could unpack works by critical heavyweights like Adrienne Rich, they trained their attention on an issue closer at hand: the plan to dismantle the Sonoma State University Women’s and Gender Studies Department.

If the proposal goes forward, Sonoma State will offer the last women’s and gender studies classes in spring 2026. That could mark the end of a more than 50-year run that started with the founding of the program in the early 1970s and evolved into the Women’s and Gender Studies Department in 2001. Several students said the plan compounds their feeling that historically marginalized groups are under attack as the Trump administration seeks to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Martinez and her classmates also argued that the department teaches skills central to future careers, while providing community when they need it most. For Martinez, a women’s and gender studies major and Chicano and Latino studies minor, the long-term goal is to go into immigration law. In the short-term, she is considering a social work degree so she can work with at-risk youth and families.

“I almost dropped out twice because I felt very out of place,” said Martinez, 32. But she persevered thanks to a women’s and gender studies instructor who “talked to me on a personal level and made sure that I could continue my education. I didn’t get that anywhere else.”

The department typically attracts 25 to 35 majors a year, said Don Romesburg, the professor who teaches the theory course, but many more students who aren’t majors take its classes. Campus spokesperson Keating confirmed that all the department’s professors have been laid off, but said the university “will continue to support and encourage the teaching of courses that support women’s rights and the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Janis Phillips, 46, an education graduate student, said the loss of the department makes her question whether the university shares her commitment to students’ social and emotional learning.

“When students feel safe and seen and heard on campuses, that is one of the best predictors of academic success,” she said, facing her classmates around the circle of desks. “So to take a bunch of students and make them feel like they are not seen and not heard will be detrimental to their academic success.”

Students said the major prepares them for careers as psychologists, marriage and family therapists or health care providers. Because majors have to complete a community service requirement, students work with local organizations that help unhoused families, prevent sexual assault and support LGBTQ youth. “We’ve really taken seriously this question that parents often ask their students, which is, ‘What would you do with that degree?’” Romesburg said.

Despite the uncertain future of the department, students are doing the reading, Romesburg said, mindful that those who come behind them might not get the same opportunity. “They’re ready to roll up their sleeves and do project-based work, where they’re really generating ideas and reflections and engaging with the material,” he said.

A flier is posted to a bulletin board on the campus of Sonoma State University.

Physics: ‘Watching something that you love die’

The physics students filing into Scott Severson’s 9:30 a.m. optics class brightened with the wide-eyed surprise of children peeking at a gift: a sturdy wooden crate.

“It’s Christmas in our labs,” Severson said, gesturing toward the crate, which was filled with professional-grade laboratory hardware. “We ordered this in better days,” he added, and a few students chuckled.

The Sonoma State Physics and Astronomy Department has indeed seen better days. Its alumni have gone on to lead companies, earn advanced degrees and become professors themselves. One of the department’s proudest moments came in 2016, when professor Lynn Cominsky was part of the team that documented a phenomenon called gravitational waves, an achievement that won three of her collaborators the Nobel Prize. Cominsky said she has raised more than $43 million in grants for Sonoma State.

Such prestige has not shielded the Physics and Astronomy Department from cost-cutting plans. Though the department will avoid total elimination, Sonoma State plans to phase out its physics major. It is giving 30 majors two years to graduate and leaving 10 first-year students to find another degree or transfer, Severson said. After that, physics faculty members will only teach physics courses for students in other programs, like biology or engineering.

Already, one of the department’s lecturers has received a layoff notice, according to the university. Severson said he and three other remaining tenured faculty will cover the teaching load as the physics degree winds down. He doesn’t anticipate that tenured faculty will lose their jobs, but said some may seek work elsewhere or retire.

Troy Wilson and Jeffery Reedy at Sonoma State University demonstrate an experiment created as part of a program aimed at introducing middle and high school students to STEM fields on Feb. 12.
Amy DiPierro

Ending the physics major also could reverberate at Cominsky’s EdEon STEM Learning program, which creates educational materials aimed at inspiring middle and high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

EdEon’s work depends on Sonoma State undergraduates, Cominsky said, and currently employs between 15 and 20 students in fields including physics. “None of the research grants I write would have been possible without physics majors,” she said.

Meanwhile, the students in Severson’s optics class watched as he played them a video illustrating the spiral of two black holes.

“I want you to notice the colors of this,” said Severson, who has taught at the university since 2007. “The brighter the red, the greater the distortion of spacetime as this is happening.”

Among the optics students was Madison Ambriz, who plans to graduate at the end of fall 2025. Ambriz spent the summer learning to assemble circuit boards as part of a collaboration to upgrade the Large Hadron Collider, a famed particle accelerator used to test physicists’ theoretical predictions. “I had such a blast with it,” she said, but her enthusiasm has been tempered by the feeling that it’s too late to save the major.

“It doesn’t matter what we say, doesn’t matter how heartbroken we are, doesn’t matter what the numbers say, they’re still going to cut the [major],” Ambriz said. “And it’s just watching something that you love die, and it’s horrible.”

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15/04/2025
Covid’s long shadow in California: Chronic absences, student depression and the limits of money
TOP TAKEAWAYS

The Covid-19 pandemic amplified long-standing inequalities; there are no quick fixes to high chronic absentee rates and other challenges.

A return to “normal” won’t address post-Covid students feeling disengaged – nor should it.

Unlike other states, California districts have a $6 billion Covid block grant to replace federal relief that expired.
In March 2020, the Covid pandemic shut down schools, creating havoc, particularly among California’s most vulnerable children. Five years later, despite unprecedented funding from the state and federal governments, most districts continue to struggle to recover the ground they lost amid multiple challenges: more disgruntled parents and emotionally fragile students, a decline in enrollment, and uncertain finances.

According to calculations by researchers at Stanford and Harvard universities, most California school districts remain below pre-pandemic levels in standardized test scores — 31% of a grade equivalent below in math and 40% of a grade equivalent in reading. These averages understate the widening gaps in living conditions as well as test scores between the lowest-income and least-impoverished districts and schools.

The drop in the average scores in California and the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2024 “masks a pernicious inequality,” said Sean Reardon, faculty director of the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford.

Scores are a shorthand measurement of learning, and they do not address the deeper, latent impact of the pandemic.

“We tend to overlook the longer-term effects of the delay in socialization and self-discipline — things that schools nurtured in young people,” said Vito Chiala, principal of William C. Overfelt High, whose 1,400 primarily low-income Hispanic and Vietnamese American students live in East San Jose. “Young people becoming adults at the high school level seem to be maybe two or three years behind where it used to be.”

In the first year of returning from remote learning, the focus was on school-related behaviors and self-management, Chiala said. “Students who had spent over a year saying whatever they wanted on social media had to face people in person, and that was super-uncomfortable sometimes. Now it’s much more about endurance, being willing and able to do hard academic work for longer periods of time.”

Overfelt High is far from unique. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in 2021-22, 87% of public schools said the pandemic harmed student socioemotional development, and 56% reported increased incidents of classroom disruptions from student misconduct.

Educators, in turn, have taken a more holistic approach to building students’ mindsets and meeting families’ basic needs, said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California Berkeley, who is studying nine California districts’ post-Covid responses.

Recognizing that Covid amplified the harsh conditions of living in poverty, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators put $4 billion into creating community schools in low-income neighborhoods to strengthen ties to parents and open health clinics at schools. The state began to fund free universal school breakfasts and lunches.

With state grants, Rocketship Public Schools hired care coordinators in all of its charter schools, most in East San Jose, to cope with the aftermath of Covid.

Fabiola Zamora, a mother of four children from ages 2 to 10, described the support from the care corps coordinator for her school when she became homeless. “We received blankets, diapers, warm clothes. Mrs. Martinez guided me to a shelter and helped get my daughter to school,” she said. “It was hard. I was scared; it made me feel I wasn’t alone.”

Mental health responses

The proportion of students experiencing mental health issues had been rising before Covid. It accelerated during remote learning and coincided with an explosion of social media and cell phone use. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the incidence and prevalence of depression among 1.7 million 5- to 22-year-olds served by Kaiser Permanente in Southern California rose by about 60%, and the incidence of anxiety increased 31% from 2017 to 2021.

School districts in turn hired more counselors and psychologists using mental health funding and $13.4 billion the state received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the last and biggest installment of the $23.4 billion in Covid aid from Congress. Savvy districts have tapped Medi-Cal, the California version of Medicaid, to reimburse school mental health services, although Republican plans for massive cuts to Medicaid could jeopardize the funding.

Addressing the whole child makes sense. Disengaged and depressed students can’t focus; chronically absent students fall behind, complicating efforts to catch them up while moving others ahead.

But have these added responsibilities overburdened and preoccupied districts? In a fifth-year Covid reassessment, Robin Lake, director of the Center for Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University, and Paul Hill, the center’s founder, raised that issue. “By easing up on graduation requirements” (which the California Legislature did), “making it easier for students to earn good grades, excusing frequent absences, and prioritizing social-emotional learning curricula over core academics,” they wrote, “the pendulum has swung too far away from the core business of schooling.”

Stubbornly high chronic absenteeism

The persistently high rates of chronic absences in California since Covid underscore complex challenges. In the first full year back from remote learning, chronic absenteeism nearly tripled statewide from 12% in 2018-19 to 30%, mirroring that of other states.

Just as with test scores, the averages masked yawning differences between ethnic and racial groups and levels of poverty: 35% for Hispanics, 42.5% for Black students, and 46% for homeless and foster youths, compared with 11% for Asian and 23% for white students. Students are chronically absent when they miss 10% or more days of school.

By 2023-24, the statewide rate declined, first to 25% in 2022-23 and then to 20% — still two-thirds higher than pre-Covid. An analysis by researchers Heather Hough of Policy Analysis for California Education and Hedy Chang of Attendance Works helps explain why learning recovery has been slow in impoverished schools. Only 2% of schools with the fewest low-income students had high or extreme levels of chronic absences, compared with 72% of schools in which three-quarters or more of students were low-income. The disparity isn’t new; the dimensions of the divide are.

“If you want to reduce chronic absence, you need to solve the root causes that result in kids not showing up to school in the first place,” said Attendance Works founder Chang. “The barriers — poor transportation, homelessness and food insecurity — are huge, and these issues are hard to solve.”

Schools also had a messaging problem. “During the pandemic, we said, ‘You should stay home for any reason for illness, any symptom.’ I don’t think we had counter-messaging when we wanted kids to come back.”

“The imperception was maybe missing school doesn’t matter so much if I think my kid might be sick,” Chang said.

Some high school students reached the same conclusion, added Overfelt principal Chiala. “We always said school is mandatory, school is important. And then we said for a year and a half (during remote learning) it wasn’t,” he said. “I think psychologically, a lot of young people are like, ‘”If it was really important, you would’ve made me keep coming.’”

Computers for all students

There is an unmistakable positive legacy of Covid: the equitable spread of technology after initial chaos.

Covid caught the state flat-footed, without a plan or the capacity to switch on a dime to remote learning; in many districts, this did not go well, as kids with home computers but spotty internet drove to fast-food parking lots to download the week’s homework assignments and to upload their answers.

In June 2020, the California Department of Education estimated that 700,000 students lacked a home computer — which soon rose to 1 million, or about 17% of students — and that there were 322,000 hot spots for internet service.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond created the Bridge the Divide Fund. With $18.4 million in donations, it distributed 45,000 Chromebooks, plus 100,725 hot spots.

The difference-maker arrived in 2021 with $7 billion as California’s share of the Biden administration’s Emergency Connectivity Fund. Federal funds have enabled more than 75% of schools nationwide to provide a computer for every student, and more than 80% of schools have high-speed broadband service, said Evan Marwell, the founder of the San Francisco-based nonprofit EducationSuperhighway.

Soon, it will be time to recycle personal computers. The good news, Marwell said, is a Chromebook can now be bought for $200.

Low return on federal investment?

On the 2021-22 Smarter Balanced tests, low-income students fell back after years of slow improvement. The overall 35% proficiency in English language arts was 4 percentage points lower than in pre-pandemic 2018-19. The 21% proficiency in math was a drop of 6 percentage points. Two years later, low-income students had regained half of what they had lost on both tests.

During these three years, per-student spending in California mushroomed by about 50% per student because of federal Covid relief and one-time state funding due to record-setting revenues, according to data assembled by Edunomics Lab, an education finance organization. The combination of high spending and lower test scores earned California one of the nation’s worst “returns on investments.”

However, a newly released deeper analysis of district-by-district Smarter Balanced results by researchers at UC San Diego, American Institutes of Research, UC Berkeley and Public Policy Institute of California showed that two years of federal Covid spending had a statistically significant effect in 2021-22. It was equivalent to a gain in math and English language arts of about 10 days of learning, said economics professor Julian Betts of UC San Diego.

Schools that reopened a year earlier from remote learning than most schools in California showed a bigger gain: about 20 days of learning.

However, those positive factors were not big enough to offset the effects of poverty — a loss of a quarter year of learning for schools with a high percentage of low-income students.

Researchers also looked at the results of the California Healthy Kids Survey that students fill out annually to see if there was a correlation between widespread bullying and student harassment with test scores. The effect was large: the equivalent of a half-year of lost learning in math and a third of a year in English language arts in 2021-22. The data document what socio-emotional learning advocates have preached for years: School climate matters in recovering academically from Covid declines.

One last source of funding

Starting with the 2021-22 state budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature invested more than $10 billion in TK-12 in the post-Covid years. The bulk of it went to transitional kindergarten (TK) and extended learning programs. What Newsom didn’t direct funding to were comprehensive, statewide, early reading and numeracy programs and high-intensive tutoring — two strategies that other states like Louisiana funded to respond Covid-era declines in test scores. Newsom had proposed $2.6 billion for “high-dosage” in-school tutoring; it vanished in the final budget.

What did survive was a $6 billion Learning Loss Emergency Block Grant program. Apparently unique among states in providing substantial money beyond the expiration of the $23.4 billion federal Covid funding, it directs most money to heavily low-income districts through 2026-27. In settling the Cayla J. lawsuit filed by Oakland and Los Angeles families over the state’s failure to meet their children’s education needs during remote learning, the state agreed to require that districts use the block grant for evidence-based strategies, like high-dosage tutoring. Districts must also conduct a needs assessment study, create a plan for the money, and present it to the public.

The learning recovery block grant provides an opportunity to ask questions raised by the Center for Reinventing Public Education in its five-year reassessment:
- What worked and didn’t work over the last five years?
- How are the students most in need going to get extra time and attention?
- What skills and new work habits are required of teachers?
Authors Robin Lake and Paul Hill concluded that the needed systemic changes would be “a heavy lift.” The necessary changes “probably can’t be done unless state officials seriously consider major waivers of regulation and teacher unions allow experimentation with new teacher roles and school staffing rules.”

Vito Chiala

Bruce Fuller, the UC Berkeley professor who is analyzing the learning recovery plans of 700 California districts, agrees. “It’s hard to sustain anything that’s seriously innovative,” he said.

Vito Chiala at Overfelt High in San Jose, however, said Overfelt is becoming a different place. “When we came back (from remote learning), we really spent a lot of time radically dreaming about how will we treat our kids? How will we grade work? How, what will we be teaching them? How will we embrace our students’ humanity?”

The result: “We don’t grade the same way we used to. Classes aren’t rushing through curriculum like they used to. Teachers aren’t feeling they have to move on, even though half the class hasn’t learned. We’re really trying to motivate students to feel the intrinsic need to learn and get better.”

“We’re still finding our footing in sort of this post-pandemic world,” he said.
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14/04/2025
The Pros and Cons of Working as a Home Tutor in Lucknow
Home tutoring has become an increasingly popular job choice for many in Lucknow, offering both flexibility and the chance to make a difference in students’ lives. Whether you’re a student, a retired teacher, or a professional seeking additional income, becoming a home tutor has its own perks and challenges. In this blog, we will walk through the various pros and cons of being a home tutor in Lucknow, helping you decide if it’s the right fit for you.

Pros of Working as a Home Tutor in Lucknow

1. Flexible Working Hours

One of the biggest advantages of being a home tutor is the flexibility it offers. Unlike a traditional 9-to-5 job, you have the liberty to choose your work hours. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for students who wish to earn some money alongside their studies or for professionals looking for a side hustle.

2. A Personalized Teaching Experience

Home tutoring allows you to work closely with students, providing a tailored learning experience. You can focus on their individual needs and weaknesses, which is often not possible in a classroom setting. This one-on-one attention can be incredibly rewarding as you witness your student’s progress firsthand.

3. Lucrative Earning Potential

In a city like Lucknow, where education is a priority for many families, home tutors are in high demand. The pay can be quite good, especially if you have expertise in subjects that are sought after, such as Mathematics, Science, or English. Tutors can charge per hour or per session, and your earnings can be substantial if you manage multiple students.

4. Gaining Teaching Experience

If you are aspiring to become a teacher or work in the education sector, home tutoring is a great way to build your experience. It helps you develop essential skills such as communication, time management, and understanding student psychology. These skills can be invaluable if you decide to transition to a full-time teaching role in the future.

5. Building Strong Relationships

Being a home tutor means you form strong bonds not just with the student but also with their family. This can open up networking opportunities and even help you gain more referrals for additional tutoring work. A good reputation can spread quickly in cities like Lucknow, and word-of-mouth can be your best marketing tool.

Cons of Working as a Home Tutor in Lucknow

1. Irregular Income

While the pay can be lucrative, it is not always consistent. Income can vary depending on the number of students, cancellations, school holidays, or exam seasons. Unlike a salaried job, where you know how much you will earn each month, tutoring can be unpredictable, and you need to budget accordingly.

2. Travel and Time Constraints

If you’re teaching students in their homes across different parts of Lucknow, travel can be a significant challenge. The city’s traffic and weather conditions can make it tiring to reach your students on time. Moreover, if you are traveling to multiple students’ homes in a day, it can limit the number of sessions you can conduct and increase your transportation costs.

3. Managing Diverse Student Needs

Every student has unique learning needs and paces. As a tutor, it can be a challenge to adapt to different learning styles and ensure each student understands the concepts. Some students may require more attention or could be less motivated, making your job harder as you try to find creative ways to keep them engaged and improve their performance.

4. Work-Life Balance

Since tutoring often happens during the evenings or weekends (when students are available), it can affect your work-life balance. You may find yourself working at odd hours or sacrificing your personal time to accommodate students’ schedules. This might not be an issue for some, but it can become overwhelming, especially when you have multiple students with varying time preferences.

5. Reliability and Consistency Issues

Tutoring requires consistency and not all students or their parents are reliable when it comes to scheduled sessions. Some might cancel classes at the last minute, or students might skip sessions due to personal reasons. This can disrupt your schedule and, ultimately, your income.

Tips for Success as a Home Tutor in Lucknow

While there are both advantages and disadvantages to being a home tutor, here are a few tips to help you succeed:
1. Set Clear Expectations: Be transparent with your students and their parents regarding your availability, fees, and cancellation policies to avoid misunderstandings.
2. Stay Organized: Maintain a schedule to track sessions, payments, and progress for each student to keep everything in order.
3. Market Yourself: Spread the word about your services through word-of-mouth, social media, and tutoring platforms like TheTuitionTeacher.
4. Adapt and Learn: Understand that each student is different and be ready to adapt your teaching methods to suit their needs.
Conclusion

Working as a home tutor in Lucknow has its set of rewards and challenges. While the job offers flexibility, good earning potential, and the satisfaction of making a difference in students’ lives, it also comes with irregular income, travel constraints, and the need for constant adaptability. However, with the right approach and mindset, home tutoring can be a fulfilling career choice, whether you’re doing it full-time or as a side gig.

If you’re considering stepping into the world of home tutoring, weigh the pros and cons, and decide if it aligns with your career goals and lifestyle. After all, there’s nothing more rewarding than helping a student achieve their academic goals and knowing you’ve played a part in their success.

Happy Tutoring!
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14/04/2025
Washington and Lee University – Edu Alliance Journal
April 7, 2025, by Dean Hoke: This profile of Washington and Lee University is the eighth in a series presenting small colleges throughout the United States.

Background

Founded in 1749, Washington and Lee University (W&L) is a private liberal arts college located in Lexington, Virginia. With a 325-acre campus in the Shenandoah Valley, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the U.S. Originally Augusta Academy, it became Washington College after George Washington’s 1796 gift. It later took on its current name in honor of Robert E. Lee, who served as president following the Civil War. The school became coeducational in 1985 and is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges nationally. The President of Washington and Lee since 2017 is William (Will) Dudley.

W&L enrolls approximately 1,900 undergraduates and 375 law students. The university boasts an 8:1 student-faculty ratio and an average class size of 15. The university is renowned for its rigorous academics, a single-sanction honor system, and a strong emphasis on ethical leadership and community.

Curricula

W&L offers 36 majors and 41 minors across disciplines such as the humanities, sciences, arts, business, journalism, and engineering. It’s the only leading liberal arts college with accredited undergraduate programs in business and journalism. Students can pursue either a B.A. or B.S. degree and are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary interests. Popular majors include Business Administration, Economics, Political Science, and interdisciplinary areas such as Environmental Studies and Poverty Studies. Signature programs include the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability, combining classroom learning with community engagement on social justice issues. Over 60% of undergraduates study abroad, and a significant number participate in internships and research, often supported by university grants.

Strengths
- Exceptional Outcomes and Opportunities: W&L’s four-year graduation rate is about 92%, and over 93% of graduates secure employment or enter graduate school within six months of graduation. They are a top producer of Fulbright scholars and other fellowship winners, reflecting the high caliber of their students and the support they receive in pursuing global opportunities.
- Academic Excellence: W&L consistently ranks among the top liberal arts schools in the United States. It has been ranked #9 by US News and World Report in Best Small Colleges in America and #9 for best liberal arts colleges. The school consistently ranks among the top producers of Fulbright and other prestigious fellowships.
- Experiential Learning: The unique Spring Term and emphasis on study abroad (60%+ participation) offer high-impact, immersive educational experiences. Programs like the Shepherd Poverty Program and community-based internships promote civic learning.
- Financial Strength: With a $2 billion endowment (roughly $900,000 per student), W&L offers strong financial aid and has a need-blind admissions policy for most domestic and international applicants.
Weaknesses
- Exclusivity: W&L has historically attracted a particular student demographic and features a social scene dominated by Greek life, which presents challenges in broadening campus culture. Approximately 75% of undergraduates join fraternities or sororities—one of the highest Greek participation rates in the nation. This deep-rooted Greek presence contributes to close social bonds and robust alumni networks. Still, it can also create a perception of social exclusivity for Students who do not participate in Greek life.
- Historical Legacy and Diversity Challenges: W&L grapples with aspects of its historic legacy that pose modern challenges. The institution’s very name honors Robert E. Lee, and debates have occurred over whether to rename the university, given Lee’s ties to the Confederacy and slavery. In 2020, campus discussions on this issue drew national attention and revealed divisions among stakeholders. The cultural transition – shedding outdated perceptions and ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel fully welcome – remains an ongoing challenge for Washington and Lee.
Economic Impact

W&L is not only an academic institution but also a major economic engine for Lexington and the surrounding Shenandoah Valley. In addition to educating students, W&L significantly boosts the local economy through employment, spending, and partnerships. The university is one of the largest employers in the region, with roughly 870 faculty and staff. A comprehensive economic impact study in 2010 found that W&L was responsible for over $225 million in economic activity in the region in a single year.

Enrollment Trends

As of Fall 2024, Washington and Lee’s total undergraduate enrollment stands at 1,866 undergraduate students, with an additional 355 students in the law school. Over the past decade, undergraduate enrollment has remained stable.

The undergraduate acceptance rate has declined from 24% to 14% over the past five years, reflecting increased selectivity. The gender balance has also shifted to slightly favor women (51%). The university maintains a first-year retention rate of 96-98% and six-year graduation rates remain steady between 93% and 95%, reflecting a high level of student satisfaction and institutional support.

Degrees Awarded by Major

In the Class of 2020 -21, W&L conferred degrees across a wide spectrum of majors. Below is a breakdown by number of degrees awarded that year:

Return of Investment

According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce’s study, Ranking 4,600 Colleges by ROI (2025), W&L offers a strong return on investment. In this study, ROI is calculated as the difference between a graduate’s cumulative earnings over time and the total out-of-pocket cost of attending college, which refers to the net cost after accounting for grants and scholarships.

For students earning a bachelor’s degree, W&L’s median ROI significantly exceeds the average for private nonprofit colleges, both in the short and long term.

Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, analysis of U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data, 2009–2022.

Alumni

W&L boasts a vibrant alumni network that is both tightly knit and far-reaching. There are over 25,000 living W&L alumni worldwide, spread across all 50 states and dozens of countries. Alumni often refer to themselves as “Generals” (after the school’s athletic moniker) and maintain strong ties to the institution long after graduation.

Notable Alumni: W&L’s alumni list includes prominent figures in law, government, business, journalism, literature, and the arts:
- Lewis F. Powell Jr. (Class of 1929; Law 1931): Was a U.S. Supreme Court Justice (served 1972–1987) . Justice Powell was one of three Supreme Court justices who attended Washington and Lee.
- Tom Wolfe (Class of 1951): Best-selling author and journalist, pioneer of the “New Journalism” movement. Wolfe wrote influential works like The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities, and is an icon in American literature.
- Roger Mudd (Class of 1950): Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist. Mudd was a longtime CBS News correspondent and anchor known for his work on CBS Evening News and documentaries.
- Joseph L. Goldstein (Class of 1962): Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research in cholesterol metabolism.
- Warren A. Stephens (Class of 1979): Chairman, president, and CEO of Stephens Inc., President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom.
- Rob Ashford (Class of 1982): A renowned choreographer and director, Ashford is an eight-time Tony Award nominee (winning one), a five-time Olivier Award nominee, and an Emmy Award winner.
- Linda Klein (Class of 1983): American Lawyer and past president of the American Bar Association.
Endowment and Financial Standing

W&L’s financial foundation is exceptionally strong for a liberal arts institution of its size. As of 2024, W&L’s endowment is nearly $2.0 billion, placing it among the top liberal arts college endowments in the nation (and even comparable to some mid-sized research universities).

In a typical year, endowment earnings contribute roughly 40-50% of the university’s operating budget. The 2023 analysis by Forbes rated W&L a solid “B+” in financial health (score of about 3.34 out of 4.5)

Why is Washington & Lee Important?
- Academic Excellence & Ethical Leadership:
  W&L exemplifies a liberal arts education that blends intellectual rigor with character development. Its Honor System promotes integrity and responsibility, shaping graduates who lead with both intellect and ethics.
- Graduate Success & Influence:
  With 93% of graduates employed or in grad school within six months, W&L delivers top-tier outcomes. Alumni go on to excel in law, government, business, journalism, medicine, and the arts—many serving as civic leaders, mentors, and public servants.
- Economic & Cultural Impact:
  Though small, W&L plays a major role in the Shenandoah Valley. It creates jobs, draws thousands of visitors annually, and enriches the area culturally with events, lectures, and museums. Its partnership with the local community strengthens regional vitality.
- Access & Forward-Thinking Values:
  W&L’s need-blind admissions and robust financial aid reflect its commitment to affordability and inclusivity. It ranks highly for free speech and integrates modern disciplines like data science and entrepreneurship into a classic liberal arts framework, demonstrating how tradition and innovation can thrive together.
With its blend of tradition and innovation, W&L continues to influence American higher education. It upholds the time-honored virtues of a liberal arts college—close mentoring, a broad education, honor, and civility—while evolving to meet contemporary challenges by opening doors to more students and engaging with real-world issues. W&L remains a cornerstone institution among small colleges, illustrating the enduring importance of the liberal arts model in shaping thoughtful, responsible citizens.

Dean Hoke is Managing Partner of Edu Alliance Group, a higher education consultancy, and a Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute. He formerly served as President/CEO of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA). With decades of experience in higher education leadership, consulting, and institutional strategy, he brings a wealth of knowledge on small colleges’ challenges and opportunities. Dean, along with Kent Barnds, is a co-host for the podcast series Small College America.
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14/04/2025
EdTech, AI, and Mental Health: Improving Student Learning, Improving Students’ Lives

Mar 28
2024

EdTech, AI, and Mental Health: Improving Student Learning, Improving Students’ Lives

Esan Durrani

By Esan Durrani, co-founder and CEO, Study Fetch.

Students in high school now have already lived through two global economic crises, and live in a world that is literally burning at a record rate. They must handle all of this while also coping with the normal chaotic ups and downs of adolescence can be overwhelming. Into this maelstrom, students are supposed to shuttle from Geometry to Social Studies and maintain focus on their studies.

The chaos of the post-pandemic world only adds to difficulties, as it has seen an increase in an already rising percentage of students dealing with mental health problems.

Some of these problems arose in part due to the remote and hybrid learning necessitated by the global pandemic. While undoubtedly better than no learning, students are still recovering from that ‘learning loss.’ Furthermore, the social cost of such extended isolation cannot be fully understood as it has no modern point of comparison. In order to put students back on track, and best position them to succeed in the future, any solution must take into account both the mental and the educational barriers our students face.

Fortunately, just as remote learning software mitigated the damage, proper investment in and uptake of available technology can put student learning back where it needs to be.

After the pandemic many school districts transitioned into hybrid learning systems, and educators had access to information about different learning styles previously unavailable. During and after the pandemic, Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled learning allowed educators to create personalized and inclusive learning for their students, progress that we must continue to build on.

Elements of the remote and hybrid learning implemented during the pandemic must be replicated because without embracing the available technological resources, we are not giving our students the learning opportunities they deserve. Effective teaching must include any and all available resources to support students dealing with ADHD and other mental health issues, or anything else that may impact their learning experience. The increased use of educational technology (EdTech) has a long way to go to meet the need, with 71% of students strongly agreeing that EdTech helps them engage with course materials. Greater access to EdTech helps broaden access and equalize student learning, while AI-enabled platforms can maximize the benefit those students receive.

When it comes to the benefits of AI-enabled EdTech, we cannot forget the impact the pandemic had on teachers as well. The very people responsible for our students and their learning outcomes feel overstressed and overworked, a situation that can only harm the education our students receive. Fortunately many of the same benefits to students enable teachers to perform better as well. With AI platforms able to assist with note-taking, students can pay closer attention in class. This not only helps students struggling with ADHD but those who are hard of hearing, those with reading disorders, or the visually impaired.

Better able to focus on the lesson, AI can then tailor student learning on the very lesson they just sat through. Furthermore, over time, AI platforms will learn about the learning style of students, tailoring advice and assistance on an individualized basis. Students from all ages and backgrounds can benefit, as it enables them to learn in ways that work best for them.

Properly implemented AI will learn from the student just as the student learns from the software. This will lead to more inclusive and cohesive learning, able to cater to every students’ needs. By easing access to learning, and helping tailor learning assistance on an individual basis, AI can relieve the stressors burdens that contribute to poor mental health among students. This, in turn, makes it easier for students to learn, a cycle that can not only erode pandemic learning loss, but help students get ahead.

EdTech and AI software are helping students all around the country, indeed all around the world, at this very moment. My team and I are proud to say we have helped over 250,000 students around the country combat mental health problems to improve learning outcomes. But that is not enough, that number does not even scratch the surface of what AI enabled EdTech can do for learning outcomes. Reducing the burden on our teachers, improving access to learning, and removing mental health barriers will foster a sustainable system of excellence.

By taking the lessons of the pandemic and applying them to today, we can best prepare our students for the future. Not only will AI systems help them in the short-term, but increased AI fluency and comfort with accepting new and emerging technologies will prepare them to be ready to take full advantage of the next advancement as we move deeper into the Digital Era.

by Scott Rupp
Tags: Esan Durrani, Study Fetch

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13/04/2025
California teachers urgently need training in how to respond to, and cope with, trauma

Child care providers discuss trauma at a training at BANANAS in Oakland.

Credit: Zaidee Stavely/EdSource

We live in stressful times. This, coupled with the high rate (80.5%) of children experiencing at least one adverse childhood experience by adolescence, necessitates that schools use trauma-informed practices in their daily routines.

Trauma-informed practices, or TIPS, involve understanding the potential impact of trauma exposure on a child, recognizing signs and symptoms of trauma exposure and responding in a way that supports healing and may build resilience. I

nteractive trainings help educators know how to respond to students with adverse childhood experiences, as well as what to do when a collective crisis happens, such as a natural disaster or school shooting. Educators learn and practice trauma-informed discipline, how to help regulate a stressed child, and build systemwide practices supporting student and teacher well-being.

The California Office of the Surgeon General recognized the need for trauma-informed practices training and created an interactive online program for teachers and schools called Safe Spaces. However, it is not clear how many school districts and educators have accessed the program.

A large majority of teachers (64%) want to learn how to better support students affected by trauma, according to a survey of nearly 15,000 educators by the American Psychological Association (APA). They also need support for coping with their own exposures to trauma. Teachers are often affected by the same events as their students — the pandemic, natural disasters, school shootings. And the APA survey shows educators must also contend with violence by students and parents.

Although numerous online resources exist, including those from the National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, there are barriers to overcome to get trained.

Our research team asked 450 of our local educators during the pandemic about why they might not have been using these resources and found that, despite being highly motivated, teachers faced limited energy and time, some perceived a lack of administrator support, and some felt stigma about needing resources to manage their own emotions.

California needs to do more to equip teachers and administrators on how to cope with trauma in their students and for themselves.

One of the best ways to embed trauma-informed practices into our school systems is to start with the programs that train our future teachers. The National Association of State Boards of Education noted that only 16 states require some form of trauma-informed practices training, although the content and type of training varies.

In California, this type of training is one way a future teacher can meet professional standards, but it is not required. Perhaps if it were, future teachers would begin their careers recognizing signs of possible trauma reactions in their students and know how to approach it with a mindset of “What happened to you?” instead of “What is wrong with you?” They would have tools to support their students with coping and handling emotions, and know when to refer for additional supports.

Teachers already in the classroom also need trauma-informed training, but it’s often lost in the many competing demands districts must balance. Some districts can offer professional development days for their teachers where in-person trauma-informed practices training is available. If more districts could offer this, teachers would have dedicated time to learn the current best practices for supporting students with adverse childhood experiences or with the initial aftermath of school crises, such as psychological first aid for students and teachers.

They would learn how to support the safety of students with disabilities in emergencies through Especially Safe, which was developed by parents and educators who lost students in the Sandy Hook school shooting. Especially Safe offers free resources to help schools better plan, prepare and teach safety in a way that is accessible to all students.

Training teachers in trauma-informed practices is not enough if they are in a school environment that is not prioritizing this; therefore, training of administrators is essential as well. And administrators have their own questions about how to support the whole school community following crises and other events. Therefore, it is best if everyone in the school community gets this training.

Although many organizations offer trauma-informed resources and trainings to schools, we need to scale up these programs to reach all schools and teacher education programs. Funding must cover not only program costs, but also dedicated teacher and administrator time to take these programs as part of professional development days.

Until tragedies make the news, better training in trauma-informed practices may not make the top of the list of priorities, but we need to change this.

•••

Erika Felix, Ph.D., is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project.

The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.

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13/04/2025
Slow down and take a closer look at the issue of trans athletes
Credit: Philip Strong / Unsplash

As a San Francisco liberal, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with some MAGA arguments. It reflects a common way of thinking these days: You are either with us or against us. You are either a flaming woke liberal or an ignorant nutcase conservative.

Not so.

There are two basic ways people make decisions. Thinking fast and thinking slow. That’s the analysis of Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman.

Thinking fast is how we make emotional, stereotypic, unconscious decisions. Knee-jerk reactions. Thinking slow, on the other hand, takes more effort and analysis.

Unfortunately, we sometimes come up with quick, simple answers to questions that require more complicated analysis.

Let’s take the controversy of whether trans athletes should play on girls sports teams.

President Donald Trump successfully used this issue to fuel culture wars between Democrats and Republicans during the 2024 presidential campaign.

The first reaction is emotional, on both sides of the political divide.
- Conservative response: It’s not fair to give one team a competitive advantage and risk injury to students.
- Liberal response: Of course they should play on girls teams. We should never discriminate against trans athletes. Banning the athlete treats her as an outsider or misfit. This further traumatizes the trans athlete, who is already struggling with acceptance.
These “my way or the highway” approaches are playing out at both the federal and state levels.

One of Trump’s first acts as president was an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

Democrats later blocked an effort in Congress to turn Trump’s executive order into law.

Since 2014, California students have had the right to play on a sports team that aligns with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records.

However, two bills were recently introduced in the Legislature to ban this.
- Assembly Bill 89 (Sanchez), would have required the California Interscholastic Federation to amend its constitution, bylaws and policies to prohibit a pupil whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls interscholastic sports team.
- Assembly Bill 844 (Essayli) would have required that a pupil’s participation in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use of facilities, be based upon the pupil’s sex at birth, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.
Both bills were blocked in committee on Tuesday, but Republicans have promised to continue their efforts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has angered Democrats and human rights advocates by breaking from the party line. He believes that allowing transgender girls and women to participate in female sports leagues is “deeply unfair.”

Let’s now take the “think slow” approach: Analyze the issue. Don’t jump to conclusions.

This issue is not hypothetical for me. My son has played on a girls team, and my daughter has played on a boys team. I have played on women’s soccer teams against trans athletes. For years, I played on co-ed teams.

But there is one undisputed fact: On average, adolescent boys and men are stronger, taller and faster than girls.

I absolutely support trans athletes playing on girls’ teams … unless they are bigger and stronger than the girls.

The table below shows you the physical differences.

There are no simple answers.

Conservative response: Ban all trans athletes from playing on a girls team. To heck with equity.

Liberal response: Allow all trans athletes to play on a girls team. To heck with competitive advantage and safety.

Neither approach makes sense. We need a middle ground.

Let’s try an approach that puts students first.
- Recognize this is an issue of fairness and equity for both the trans athlete and the members of the girls team.
- For high school interscholastic sports, base the solution on the particular situation in junior and senior year of high school. That’s when the dramatic differences in strength, weight and height can influence the outcome of the game and impact the safety of the students.
- For college sports, assess whether there will be a competitive advantage or risk of injury.
- Understand that whatever the decision, people will be angry.
- Forget the political divide and rest your decision on what you think is best for students.
•••

Carol Kocivar is a child advocate, writer for Ed100.org, retired attorney and past president of the California State PTA.

The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
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12/04/2025
On Attention, ‘cognitive endurance’ and reading
In our forthcoming book on the Science of Reading, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway and I discuss the importance of attention to reading.

Short version: if nothing else, the smartphone, having fractured the attention of millions, has taught us that attention is malleable. This is especially important in reading, which places such intense demands on students’ ability to sustain periods of focus attentiveness.

The flip side, we argue, is that by attending to attention in reading classrooms—by bringing the act of reading back into the classroom where we can shape the experience of reading for students–could help rebuild students’ attentional capacity. To quote our own forthcoming book:

If we build a habit in which reading is done with focus and concentration and even, to go a step further, with empathy and connectedness, and if we do that regularly for a sustained period of time, our brains will get better at reading that way—more familiar with and attuned to such attentional states… We can re-build attention and empathy in part by causing students to engage in stretches of sustained and fully engaged reading. One thing this implies is more actual reading in the classroom with more attention paid by teachers to how that reading unfolds. Attending to how we read—thinking of the reading we do in the classroom as “wiring”—gives us an opportunity to shape the reading experience intentionally for students.

In light of this is was struck by this study by Christina Brown and colleagues: COGNITIVE ENDURANCE AS HUMAN CAPITAL.

“We focus specifically on cognitive endurance: the ability to sustain effortful mental activity over a continuous stretch of time,” the authors write and what they find is stunning.

“Using a field experiment with 1,600 Indian primary school students, we randomly increase the amount of time students spend in sustained cognitive activity during the school day,” the authors write. Doing so, they find, “markedly improves cognitive endurance: students show 22% less decline in performance over time when engaged in intellectual activities.”

“This indicates that the experience of effortful thinking itself increases the ability to accumulate traditional human capital.”

One of the key benefits good schooling can provide is the ability to sustain deep, focused attention. Acquired via the habit of being caused to engage via deep, focused attention.

Sadly the authors find that access to such environments correlates to wealth: “Globally and in the US, the poor exhibit cognitive fatigue more quickly than the rich across field settings; they also attend schools that offer fewer opportunities to practice thinking for continuous stretches.”

So two takeaways from this very important study.
- In reading classrooms its urgently important to cause students to engage in focused reading for sustained blocks of time as a matter of habit. If you’re interested in this, there’s a whole chapter in our forthcoming book about harvesting attention in reading classrooms. Among other things it means bringing shared reading back to the heart of the classroom.
- It also means recommitting to orderly schools, something many educators have sadly abandoned in recent years. One of the things you need to be able to practice “cognitive endurance” is reliable and predictable quiet in which to focus your attention and stay on task without disruption. There’s lots of research on the frequency of low-level disruptions in most classrooms, I would only argue that it is “low-level” only in the level of noise it creates. It’s consequences are far from small.
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12/04/2025
PBL Project Design Focus on Content Knowledge and Skills
PBL Project Design Focus

When designing a PBL Project, your focus is to teach students academic content area knowledge and skills drawn from district or state standards. Your project also focuses on building students’ ability to think critically, solve problems, collaborate, and communicate (3Cs), which are the 21st Century skills students need to prepare for life and work in today’s world, according to PBL in the Elementary Grades book.

The book provides a project overview planning form. See below

On the form, it indicates which standards and skills you are targeting for your project.

Selecting Content Standards for Your Project

You are good to go if you have come up with your project ideas by starting from your standards. It is important to remember to align your project with standards.

Standards that are most important are called “priority standards” that are identify by your school or district you want to use as the focus for your project. Priority standards are often based on what items appear more frequently on state tests.

If priority standards have not been identified, you can decide for yourself or with colleagues in your grade level what the priority standards are for the content areas included in the project.

To Start the Alignment Process:

First decide on the few standards that are most essential for meeting the goals of the project. It is not a good idea to try to include as many standards as possible in the project since students will ne spending so much time on it. Typically, a project should focus only 1 – 3 standards from each academic content area to be included, depending on how specific standards are written.

If you try to include too many standards, you cannot teach them in any depth and assess them adequately.

PBL in Elementary Grades book provides an 4th grade Curriculum Map with Projects as an example:

Another suggestion the book made is to use curriculum guides or scope and sequence documents that contain standards that are “unpacked” into discrete skills and pieces of knowledge. You can use this specific guidance to design project products, assessments, and lesson that align closely with the standards.

Selecting 21st Century Skills

Communication, collaboration, and critical thinking/problem solving are the three most important 21st century skills called the “3Cs”. According to PBL in Elementary Grades book these skills and several others are a natural fit with PBL. The book recommends not to assume students are gaining these skills because you designed a challenging project. These skills should be taught and assessed in a project.

PBL in Elementary Grades book notes you only teach and assess two of the skills if this is your first project. One is oral communication (making presentation) because all projects include presenting to a public audience as an essential element. Presentation skills are called for in the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, and they are straightforward to teach and assess.

Collaboration or working in teams is the other skill that is easy to teach and assess. You probably are familiar with group work and cooperative learning, so you already have some basics tools in your toolbox.

PBL in Elementary Grades book emphasizes the 3Cs are important for success in the 21st century, and that these skills can be taught and assessed in projects. See examples below:

Collaboration
- Take responsibility for the quality and timeliness of his or her own work; uses feedback; stays on task during group work.
- Accepts shared responsibility for the work of the group; helps improve the quality of the work an understanding of other members.
- Applies or encourages the use of strategies for facilitating discussion and decision making.
- Manages project by identifying and prioritizing goals and tasks, creating timelines, organizing resources, and monitoring progress.
- Respects the ideas, opinion, abilities, values, and feeling of other group members; Works well with diverse group members; Encourages group cohesion by using conflict management strategies.
Communication (When making a presentation)
- Organizes ideas and develops content appropriate to audiences and situations.
- Uses effective oral presentation skills.
- Create media/visual aids that enhance content delivery.
- Gauges audience reaction and/or understanding and adjusts presentation appropriately.
- Responds to questions appropriately.
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
- Recognizes and defines problems accurately; raises relevant questions and issues, formulating them clearly and precisely.
- Gathers pertinent information from a variety of sources; evaluates the quality of information (source, validity, bias).
- Organizes, analyzes, and synthesizes information to develop well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, judging them against relevant criteria.
- Considers alternatives; recognizes and assesses assumptions, implications, and practical consequences.
College and Career Readiness Standards for English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas Continuum from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade. See Below:

Hallermann, Sara; Larmer, John; Mergendoller PhD, John. PBL in the Elementary Grades: Step-by-Step Guidance, Tools and Tips for Standards-Focused K-5 Projects (p. 32). Buck Institute for Education. Kindle Edition.

Teaching students how to think critically and solve problems is more challenging. These are complex skills that cut across several content areas, and most teachers only have experience with instruction that emphasizes factual and procedural knowledge. Assessing critical thinking/problem solving is also challenging, because it is not readily observable.

Hallermann and Mergendoller suggest other skills might be encouraged in your project, but not explicitly taught and assessed — such as creativity or global awareness. If you’re ambitious, and it’s not your first project, you may wish to add more skills to your list of goals, such as project management, the use of various technological tools, and cross-cultural competence. These are all teachable and assessable. Note that if you want to teach multiple 21st century skills, your project will need to be longer, to build enough time during the project to practice and assess the skills.

Hallermann, Sara; Larmer, John; Mergendoller PhD, John. PBL in the Elementary Grades: Step-by-Step Guidance, Tools and Tips for Standards-Focused K-5 Projects (p. 33). Buck Institute for Education. Kindle Edition.

If this is your first PBL project, you might want to review First PBL Project Modest in Scope Achieve Best Results
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12/04/2025
Balancing Freedom and Control with Classroom Technology

Feb 4
2025

Balancing Freedom and Control with Classroom Technology

Al Kingsley

By Al Kingsley, CEO, NetSupport.

Teachers know that giving students more freedom — by enabling greater choice and agency — unlocks engagement and better outcomes. Decades of research backs this idea up. Still, there’s value to structure in a classroom.

How then, can teachers balance maintaining a level of control that steers productive learning with giving students the freedom they need to thrive? Setting clear boundaries and leveraging technology effectively are the keys.

The Value of Limiting Choice

Technology is often thought of as a tool that can help open more choice for students. Whether it’s choosing research topics that fit their interests, providing options to engage in educational content to meet different learning styles, or even giving students ways to master topics at their own pace.

Research on choice, however, shows that too many options can be counterproductive. People are more likely to make decisions, and avoid “analysis paralysis,” when there are fewer options. The magic number, the reports say, is to offer less than six choices.

As teachers continue to embrace allowing students more classroom freedom, using technology to offer a set of choices rather than limitless options can be effective.

Adding Alternatives for Answering Questions

Class participation is an easy way to add greater freedom for students without overwhelming them with choices, especially by using technology. For example, if teachers want all students to participate in a classroom discussion they can ask for responses to questions using a computer-based poll and then ask students who feel comfortable to share their answers out loud.

An alternative option is to adopt a platform with a classroom chat feature. Teachers who use classroom.cloud report that using the solution’s chat feature allows students who might be more self-conscious or shy to speak up. By typing their response, or even discreetly asking a question, students can engage more fully in classroom activities.

Adding Guardrails to Set Students Up for Success

Many approaches that grant students greater freedoms are based on self-directed learning. Students might be able to choose the final format of a project or decide between learning about a topic by reading or watching a video about it.

Likewise, offer a game like a web-based scavenger hunt. Such activities require students to use computers and tablets with internet access, opening the door to a variety of explorations, as well as distractions.

Just as teachers can use technology to increase options for learning, they can also use it to add guardrails that size down the vast world of the internet to something not quite so overwhelming (or tempting).

Determining the websites and applications students can access by creating a list of “allowed” and “restricted” content ensures students only access relevant and appropriate resources during class. This way, they will stay on task and work more efficiently.

IT directors who have adopted classroom.cloud ease the burden of managing such a list off teachers’ plates. Instead of taking up teachers’ time to create and manage the lists, IT leaders work with educators to identify sites and apps and then set the restrictions and allowances. Other control options needed include different permissions for specific school buildings within a district.

Tools that enable simultaneous screen sharing as well as a lock screen feature can also help in setting up appropriate guardrails.

When teachers can manage students’ screens with a single click, it becomes easier to bring everyone together after a period of working independently or redirect students who may have gone off track.

Provide Support Anytime, Anywhere

Many classrooms have continued to embrace learn anytime, anywhere environments. Students are learning remotely, in person and in hybrid classrooms. No matter where kids are learning, they deserve the same level of help.

The right technology can enable students to maintain freedom in where and how they learn while still getting the support they need. This goes beyond live-streamed instruction or watching videos asynchronously. Teachers can use technology, like classroom.cloud, to support and engage with students in the very moment they are learning.

When teachers use technology they have an immense opportunity to continue fostering classroom environments that are engaging and anchored in choice. By considering how the same tools can create structure, educators can strike the balance to help students avoid feeling overwhelmed and keep them focused on growing and learning.

by Scott Rupp
Tags: Al Kingsley, NetSupport

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12/04/2025